Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Chair and my colleague on my right referred to a change in farming practices. There has been an increase in very large enterprises covering a wide area and generally capitalising on the benefits of the size of the operation, which obviously cannot apply to smaller operators.

As a result, the small farming outfits are diminishing rapidly and will diminish to a greater extent in the time to come. Are there any ways or means we can consider at this stage to give the smaller operators some chance of competing with the bigger operators, given that their sites indicate that it is an uneven contest?